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Creating better looking grass (my story)

Discussion in 'General Graphics' started by KnifeMedia, Nov 10, 2015.

  1. KnifeMedia

    KnifeMedia

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2015
    Posts:
    108
    Hey all,

    I hope I can contribute somewhat to the forums by explaining my texturing process for Unity terrains that I am using for our RTS game Super Regency Deluxe (releasing early next year).

    One of the hardest stepping stones for a new developer using terrains is creating a decent splatmap. Maybe this will help give some direction from my experience and learning. I don't profess to be an expert, but this is what the internet is all about, right? ;)



    Above is a WIP screenshot of the terrain. I'm using the following tools from the asset store:

    1. RTP (Relief Terrain Pack 3) https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/5664
    2. Scion Post Processing https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/41369
    3. UBER shaders (note the translucency on the edges of the leaves) https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/39959
    4. Suimono water: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/4387

    1. I use textures.com to find suitable bitmaps.
    2. I do some colour tweaking in Gimp to bring out greater richness. Usually via increasing contrast a little.
    3. In RTP I create normal maps to give it greater meta-detail.
    4. There are two textures being used here. They are:



    The texture on the right is applied as a 100% opacity base texture for the entire environment. It carries some nice yellow and blue tints that come through in the final image.

    Then, I apply the texture on the left in varying levels of opacity. 100% being brighter and 10% being very dark. Look at the left side of the screenshot - it seems richer because more of the blue and darker tones are escaping through the top layer of the left texture.

    Remember that all images output a level of warm or cool colouring (warm being orange, cool being blue). One of the common mistakes people make when creating terrains in Unity is using textures that have way too much warmth. If you applied the left texture alone it would look garish and the colour tone would be false. The base texture fixes this.

    There are two more layers of texture being calculated above these that are exclusive to RTP:

    1. Perlin noise - a random map of shadowing that gives the terrain a nice, non tiling blemish. It gives greater depth to the landscape than a terrain without this.
    2. UV overlaying - RTP basically maps each texture over the textures again but at different UV values. It gives more variation to the image (but you have to be careful not to overexpose the image by allowing the colours to stack. Selecting a low level of saturation helps).
    3. The entire map is being given a slightly blue tint by RTP. Realistic light will be slightly blue because of the atmospheric scattering that occurs in our sky (hence a blue sky).

    Finally, I break repetitive texturing by adding those little flower patches. They carry a lot of cool/blue colouring that gives the game a really "mature" look. Vignetting and depth of field via post processing adds some extra sheen to the image. Grass is applied to the terrain both via the built in grass shader and some models that I created myself for variation.

    The goal for our game is to have three distinct environments. I'll be posting some content in Work in Progress soon. Let me know if this helps in any way!

    You can follow the project @KnifeMedia!
     
    Rombie and fxcarl like this.
  2. McSwaggens

    McSwaggens

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2013
    Posts:
    23
    Very nice!
    What camera effects are you using?
     
  3. KnifeMedia

    KnifeMedia

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2015
    Posts:
    108
    Thanks!

    Scion Post Processing with camera focal distance, a little blending of a LUT, vignetting and chromatic aberration!

    EDIT: some terrain work for the desert levels:

     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2015
    Aieth likes this.
  4. joshua-lyness

    joshua-lyness

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2013
    Posts:
    8
    Wow! This looks incredible! I cant believe I havent seen it sooner, I needed some desperate inspiration and you gave it to me on a silver plate! :D
    How did you go about the splatmaps? is that something built into RTP and if so, do you know if it is possible on normal meshes? I guess it would be but much more intensive getting all the normals.
    Anyway amazing looking work, interested to see more if you have any ;)